United Kingdom policy rate holds at 3.75% in September 2026

The central bank policy rate in the United Kingdom was 3.75% in September 2026, according to the Bank of England. The rate is the benchmark that the central bank uses to steer borrowing costs across the economy. It is closely watched in the housing market because it feeds into the pricing of mortgages and other forms of credit used by buyers and owners.

Compared with the previous month, the rate did not move. The Bank of England figure for August 2026 was also 3.75%, and Housing Market Group calculates the change between August 2026 and September 2026 at 0 percentage points from Bank of England figures. Looking further back, the rate stood at 3.75% in July 2026, in June 2026 and in May 2026 as well. This means the setting has been flat throughout the period from May 2026 to September 2026 covered by the data.

The picture over a longer horizon is different. In September 2025 the Bank of England policy rate was 4.0%. Set against that level, the September 2026 reading is lower, with HMG calculating a change of -0.25 percentage points between September 2025 and September 2026 from Bank of England figures. Any easing in the rate therefore took place at some point before May 2026, and the level has held steady since then.

For the housing market, the combination of a lower rate than a year earlier and a stable rate in recent months gives a clearer reference point for borrowing costs than a period of frequent changes would. Lenders, buyers and those refinancing existing loans have been working with the same benchmark of 3.75% since at least May 2026. How individual mortgage products are priced, however, also depends on factors that this figure alone does not capture, such as lender funding costs and competition between providers.

The policy rate is set once for the whole United Kingdom, so the 3.75% figure applies equally across all of its regions and nations. Differences in local housing conditions arise from other factors rather than from the benchmark rate itself. The figures in this article describe the setting reported by the Bank of England for each month shown and the changes calculated by HMG from those figures. They are not a guide to future decisions on the rate.